The church in Philippi was the first Jesus community that Paul started in eastern Europe. Philippi was a Roman colony in ancient Macedonia, Northwest Greece. It was full of retired soldiers and well-known for its patriotic nationalism, as they would have received Roman Citizenship.
Paul faced resistance there for announcing Jesus as the true King of the world. After Paul had moved on, those who became followers of Jesus continued to suffer persecution. The Philippians confessed Jesus as the true Lord and Saviour, which implied, Caesar wasn’t. This is a point of tension reflecting their dual citizenship.
However, they remained a vibrant community, faithful to the way of Jesus. Paul sent this letter to them during one of his many imprisonments for a very practical reason.
The Philippians had sent one of their members, Epaphroditus, to take a financial gift to Paul and to support him in prison. Paul sent this letter back with Epaphroditus to say thank you for the generous gift and to speak to the community.
We will look at this passage in three parts:
- Thankfulness for all believers
- Proclaiming the gospel
- To live is Christ, to die is gain
- Thankfulness for all believers
Philippians 1 v 3 to 5
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
This letter from Paul, as many of his letters to the churches, opens with a prayer of gratefulness, as Paul thanks God for the Philippians’ generosity and faithfulness. He expresses his confidence that the life-transforming work that God has begun in them will continue to grow into greater, more beautiful expressions of faithfulness and love. Paul demonstrates how prayer, thanksgiving, and joy are hallmarks that distinguish the Christian life from a secular life.
Ancient letters would mostly begin with a health wish… the equivalent of our “I hope this email finds you well…” Paul begins his letter not with well wishing, but thanking God for his friends and what God’s doing in their lives.
The basis of Paul’s thanksgiving and joy is the Philippians’ partnership in the gospel in verse 5. Here we see the singular passion of Paul’s life— the advancement of the gospel. The advancement of the gospel, in spite of whatever circumstance, is a cause for joy.
The word “partnership” means participation in something. It comes from the same word that Paul uses in verse 7 to say that they are also “partakers with me of grace.” They are participants of God’s grace and participants together with him in spreading the gospel. Because of their partnership in the gospel, Paul thanks God for them and expresses confidence that it will continue
That confidence is not based on their efforts but what God is doing in them. And then Paul asks God for increased love and fruitfulness in their lives and in their community.
Paul is writing the same letter to you at Knaphill. He thanks God for you and all you are doing to further the Gospel in this community. He has a confidence, as I do, that God will continue the good work he has started in you and will carry it on until it is complete. God knows your needs and he will provide all you need in his time, not in the time we want it to be. He is a faithful God and he stands with you as you work for him.
I hope and pray that you all give thanks to God for each other, as you partner with each other and with God in working for the kingdom. My experience of you as a fellowship is the same as Paul’s was for the Philippians, thanking God for your generosity and faithfulness.
- Proclaiming the Gospel
Philippians 1 v 12
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
In this letter to the Philippians Paul is writing it from his prison cell chained to some of the elite palace guards. They did not want him to escape. He was chained to one of them for six hours at a time. There is no doubt that he made the most of the opportunities he was given to speak Jesus to the guards he was chained to. He had a captive audience; he could not get away from them and they could not get away from him until their shift change. He didn’t waste a minute of the time he had with them. Imagine yourself as one of those soldiers, chained to a man who prayed without ceasing, sang songs of praise and was constantly talking to you and other prisoners about their spiritual condition.
When he was doing this he was repeatedly writing letters to Christians and churches he had visited during his ministry of the gospel. It would not have been long before some of these elite guards put their faith in Christ. Paul was able to get the gospel into the elite guard, something he could not have done had he been a free man.
Paul got on with job of spreading the gospel at every opportunity. Paul could minister effectively and bring glory to God in difficult circumstances. He didn’t need everything to be easy and just right in order to be fruitful.
Many Christians can feel chained in their lives, to their jobs or their circumstances, they believe that this prevents them from spreading the gospel as freely as they would like. They look forward to the time when they no longer have to work, or the family is all grown up and moved out. Then they will have time to focus on spreading the gospel.
The problem is that, when this happens, they stop meeting non-Christians. Where we are today is the right time and right place to spread the gospel with those around us. God has placed us in the workplace, school, college, university, secular groups, and other places to be his witness to those we meet and work with. The opportunities are where God has placed us.
All of us can have an impact in whatever our circumstances. Paul had a huge impact in all and every situation he was in. He chose to see them all as an opportunity to speak Jesus.
Unlike Paul and other Christians around the world, we have freedom in this country and will not be flogged or thrown in to prison for preaching Christ, and yet, we don’t take every opportunity God gives us. When we are single minded, we look on our circumstances as God-given opportunities for the furtherance of the gospel and rejoice at what God is doing in them.
- To live is Christ, to die is gain
Philippians 1 v 19 to 21
I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain
While Paul is optimistic that he’ll be released from prison, it’s still possible that he could be executed instead. As he reflects more on that fact, he decides that dying would actually be better than living. Paul says he is not remotely worried about death, so long as Christ is honoured. Many Christians have felt the same and still do.
Mozart described death as the key that unlocks the door to our true happiness. Although death held no terror for Paul, he desired to go on living for the sake of others. He knew that any extension of life would be used for fruitful labour in sharing Jesus. His whole purpose in life is Christ and Christ only. This contrasts sharply with what drives so many around us today.
Some are driven by the desire of money and all the apparent security it brings. Other are driven by the desire to be loved. Still others are driven by a hunger for success, fame and significance. Madonna said “I won’t be happy until ‘I’m as famous as God”. How sad, as this will never happen. Others, like Paul have realised that only in Jesus Christ do we find the meaning and purpose of life.
Paul’s purpose in life was to know Christ and to make Christ known to others. He knew he could only do this through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough just to speak the gospel; we must also live it out in our daily lives. We need to walk the talk.
We all need to give thanks to God for one another and for where he has placed us to partner with him in the gospel.